Hmm, I Think I Like How You Look
by IAmAGinger
Summary: IY is lonely, and he has his eye on the pretty girl  Kagome  from the archery range. Wait, he's talking to WHAT in his apartment? And it's sleeping in his bed with him!
1. A Meeting

Chapter 1-12/24/11

A/N: 'Sup? This is another one-shot of mine, set in modern day Japan. It's _sort of_ sad, but not too much. And the ending's happy!

Besides two of my poems and one of my stories, this is another idea that came to while I was trying to go to sleep. Maybe I have insomnia...

Not really sure how I thought of this. And the ending is way different than the one I originally had. I manipulated it a little to make it holiday-like.

I'm American, but since I'm pretty sure that we're the only country that doesn't use the metric system, I'm going to make it easy for y'all and put stuff in centimeters and meters. So to reciprocate my effort, you could be kind enough to read this and/or leave a (hopefully) nice review.

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters mentioned below in this story. The plot is a work of my (somewhat) imaginative mind.

End A/N.

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><p>InuYasha turned to dart a furtive glance at the dark-haired young woman before turning back to concentrate on his shooting. He took a deep breath to steady his shaking hands, closed his amber eyes, and released the bow. He listened as the arrow whistled through the air and peeked when he heard it strike something.<p>

InuYasha stared disbelievingly. Mentally, he groaned. He couldn't believe how awful a shot he was. The arrow had completely missed the target and had burrowed itself in the ground about six meters in front of the bullseye. Glancing around, he was mortified to see the woman turning away from his look to hide her face. But he wasn't fooled. InuYasha recognized the shaking of her shoulders. It was muffled laughter.

_Not everyone has natural talent like her!_ InuYasha thought to himself. _Except Kikyo..._ With tears filling his eyes, InuYasha felt determination to try again fill him. He took a few steps onto the field and when no one made him come back, he kept walking.

He had only made it half a meter when he heard _her_ call out, "Sir, don't go out there! It's dangerous!" She walked briskly over to him and, looking into his eyes, told him sternly, "You could be shot." But then a twinkling gleam of laughter entered her eyes, and she said with as straight a face as she could manage, "_Especially_ if you have the bad luck for there to be someone else here as bad a shot as you are. No offense, of course."

Trying to work up a smile, InuYasha protested in mock indignation. "What happens if I _am _offended?"

"I can try to make it up to you."

Pretending to think it over, InuYasha took a few moments before responding. "How about you tell me your name?"

Grinning, she introduced herself. "I am Higurashi Kagome. And you are...?"

"My name is Taisho InuYasha. But you can simply call me InuYasha. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Would you like for me to help you?" At seeing his confused expression, Kagome clarified. "With your aim. You look like you, uh, could use some instruction."

InuYasha thought about it for a second before saying, "Thanks. Sounds good."

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><p><em>That night...<em>

InuYasha walked into his house and tossed his jacket onto the nearby coatrack. Wearily sighing, he said aloud, "Kikyo, you should see her. She reminds me so much of you, and yet she seems different. I don't know how to explain it." Walking into the kitchen, InuYasha rummaged around in the cabinets, looking for a certain kind of food, while talking. "Yeah yeah, I know, I should clean the kitchen." Finally he found the box of food. He poured it into a bowl and set it in the microwave. "I can just hear you telling me it's my turn for chores," he said while shoving papers and books around on the table in an attempt to clear a spot for him to eat at.

Turning back to the beeping microwave, InuYasha opened the door and slid the bowl of ramen out. He nearly dropped it but gritted his teeth and carried the bowl over to the table. InuYasha quickly placed the bowl at the only somewhat empty spot and ruefully answered the voice in his head, "Yes, it certainly would have been a good idea to use a potholder."

Blowing on his burning hands, he said, "Would you-oh, I just barely caught myself! I almost asked you if you wanted a fork! Can you imagine, Kikyo?" InuYasha made his way over to a drawer and slid it open. Seeing it was empty, his face formed a scowl. He walked to the sink and pawed through the mountain of dirty dishes to look for silverware.

InuYasha let out a strongly worded curse before giving up looking for a fork. "Great. No forks. Or even any spoons." Sitting down in the kitchen chair, he muttered to himself, "I _really_ need to clean the kitchen."

Holding the bowl in his right hand, he used it to gesture to the empty seat to his right. "To us. Happy anniversary, Kikyo. I miss you every single day," InuYasha said before slurping some noodles out of the bowl.

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><p>AN: Yeah, Kikyo's dead. They were married, and she died. But how? That's for you to (maybe) find out. HAHA!

I was going to make this a one-shot, but then it'd be super-duper long, so I thought, _Hey, why not just make it like a three- or four-shot? (A.K.A. a chapter story; but I'm not going to call it that)_

So...Hurry up and read the next chap-WAIT! I just remembered. First, you need to review, _THEN_ you can read the next chapter.

And I got something to say to you if you're gonna try and skip leaving a (NICE) review: _'You shall not pass_.' (Isn't that a quote from _Lord of the Rings_ or something? I got it off of _Family Guy_, and I'm pretty darn sure that they were doing a twenty second spoof of the movie.)

Like how I included the part about InuYasha eating ramen? 'Cause, you know, he' s sort of obsessed with it.

_Anyway..._Ja ne! (See ya!)

End A/N.


	2. Some Dirt, Cockroaches, and A Disguise

Chapter 2-12/24/11

A/N: It's the same night that the last chapter ended in. Like, five minutes after the last one ended.

I just felt like ending the last one at that kind-of-sad note.

Chapter has reference to...nothing _really_ offensive. Pretty sure about that...Oh well if it isn't.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the _InuYasha_ characters mentioned below in this story. They belong to Rumiko Takahashi. But I _do_ own...actually, nothing that pertains to InuYasha or any of the other characters.

_OHH OHHHH! I know the answer, call on me!_

Yes?

_These stories are of our possession._

Yay!

_Hoorah!_

End A/N.

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><p>InuYasha tossed the empty bowl into the full sink. He let out a startled yelp when the dishes piled high in it began to shift precariously. Sighing, he decided it was past time for him to do the dishes.<p>

Humming, he began searching the cluttered kitchen for the dishwashing detergent. InuYasha stood still for a moment, debating internally. _I could clean the kitchen and then do the dishes_, he thought, _OR I could hire someone to come and do it for me tomorrow._ Nodding, he came to a decision. _Hiring someone it is!_

Smiling and radiating self-satisfaction over his lazy choice, InuYasha walked throught the crummy, small, filthy, smelly kitchen and into the equally dirty living room. Looking around, he defended himself against his late wife. "No, this isn't-isn't _dirty_. It's simply _unclean_. It's a bachelor's pad. What'd you expect, Kikyo?"

He stopped at the hallway leading into his bedroom to let a family of cockroaches pass. "No, I'm not going to kill Susan and Sam's family by stepping on them. They own this place. Their grandparents were already here when I moved in, Kikyo, so I'm not going to force them to leave," InuYasha said. "_No_, it's not gross that I let them sleep in bed with me."

"Chchchchch-badadadaaa (*See below A/N)," he quietly sang to himself. "Badabababaaa, I'm lovin' it."(**See below A/N) "America is _so_ awesome, isn't it Kikyo?" InuYasha asked as he stripped in his bedroom. "You know, I'd been planning for us to take a cruise to the States when..._it_ happened. I'd even booked us a room on the ship and everything. It would've been an awesome first anniversary." He slipped on his thug clothes: black shirt, nondescript dark hoodie, black holey, baggy jeans, and a pair of black boots. To top it off, he put his long black hair in a ponytail and a beanie on his head. (***)

Looking in the mirror, InuYasha questioned if he looked thuggy enough. (****) "What do you think?" he asked as he turned around to face the open doorway, where he imagined his wife to be. "Good point. I need to scowl more. It's gonna be hard, because I'm so cheerful. Did you know that in high school, I was voted most optimistic? 'S true." Bending down, he ran his hand over the floor a couple of times. He brought his hand to his face and hesistated. "Even I'll agree the carpet is definitely _not_ clean." Clenching his teeth, he ground out, "But this is for you, so...". InuYasha rubbed his hand across his face repeatedly.

Shaking his head rapidly, he walked into the bathroom and pulled out a bottle of eyedrops. Opening his right eye, he squeezed out a couple of drops and then did the same with his left eye. Blinking, InuYasha looked into the mirror. Happy that it had worked and his pupils were sufficiently dilated, he told his reflection, "Yes! The drops worked. Now you look as high as any other street junkie."

He entered his living room and searched around for something. After several moments, during which he disturbed Sam the cockroach's family, InuYasha eventually found his knife. He rolled up the right leg of his jeans and, remembering that he needed a strap to slip the knife in, hopped around the room searching for it. Giving out a cry of victory, InuYasha attached the strap to his calf before sliding the knife into the pocket. He rolled down his pant's leg and looked for his other knife. He discovered it sitting on the stained coffee table. Grabbing the small weapon, he slipped it into the pocket on the front of his hoodie.

He made his way to his front door. "Oops, almost forgot. I look too clean, don't you think Kikyo? Actually, don't wanna hear what you have to say." Looking down at himself, InuYasha tore his pant's holes a little wider. "Any bigger and I'd slip right through them," he mumbled as he ripped his hoodie a bit. "Man, I'd loved this hoodie. Yeah yeah, I can always get another one. But it's not the same."

InuYasha realized that his shoes looked too neat and corrected the mistake by undoing some of his shoelaces. He mussed his hair a little before announcing to the empty apartment, "Okay. I'm done. See you later Kiks." (*****) He gave a small wave to nowhere in particular before opening the door and stepping outside.

* * *

><p><em>Later that night...Like, WAY later. 3:00 A.M. or something...<em>

InuYasha opened the door and groaned, "UGH! This city needs so many more cops. You wouldn't believe how much crime there is. I almost got shot twice, and someone tried to mug me. While I was driving TO the mafia 'headquarters'." He walked into his bedroom and began stripping again. "It. Was. _Awful_. But it _might_ have been worth it. The stuff I found out was important. Or at least seemed like it. But I'm way too tired to think over it tonight. I'm going to sleep." Stumbling into the bathroom, he grabbed a washcloth, flipped on the faucet, and stuck the washrag under the water. He twisted the faucet off after a moment and ran the rag vigorously across his face before tossing the washcloth in the vague direction of the dirty clothes' hamper. "Don't care that I missed. 'Night," InuYasha declared as he fell into bed.

But InuYasha felt that he couldn't get comfortable. Rolling over in bed, he heard a strange noise. Puzzled, he tried to think of what it was. But it was a few minutes before he figured it out. Groaning, he told his dead wife, "Crap, I think I just killed Sam's family."

* * *

><p>AN:

*InuYasha was singing/humming nonsense to himself. He couldn't think of a song he wanted to sing, so he just began to make up words. I'm _pretty_ sure those words mean nothing in any language, and if they do, that is purely coincidental.

**He's singing the theme song of McDonald's, a fast food restaraunt in America. I'm not sure if it's an international restaraunt chain, so that's why I'm explaining what it is.

***In case no one knows what a beanie looks like, it's the cap Eminem is almost always wearing. And if that is no help, it's a hat that sits really snug on your head...I don't know, I can't really explain it. Just Google it or something.

****I'm almost certain 'thuggy' is not grammatically correct/an actual word. I do not care. I use it constantly in my daily life. So...there.

*****Kiks: nickname for Kikyo. I was too lazy to type out her whole name. And I'll probably use it again later on. So now you know.

I'm going to have the rest of the story out by tomorrow night. My Christ-err, I mean-holiday gift to y'all...I was going to say, 'Christmas gift', but, you know, not everyone celebrates it, so...Sorry.

Did you get the ending line? InuYasha rolled over and crushed Sam the cockroach's family. 'Cause, remember, he said earlier that Sam and Susan slept in bed with him. Gross.

Sorry if this isn't as good as it could have been. I typed the chapter in an hour and I just rather get it out there rather than wait until tomorrow.

End A/N.


	3. A Narrative Memory

Chapter 3-12/25/11

A/N: Christmas Day!

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters mentioned in the below story. The plot is a work of my obsessed-with-anything-having-to-do-with-InuYasha mind.

Yeah, I made InuYasha's apartment probably non-Japanese. I based it on an apartment my dad used to live in. Sorry if it ruins the Japanese theme or something.

And I just want to say this: I'm truly sorry if I use any American phrases in this or any other story. I don't mean to, but...yeah, sorry.

After I finish this story, my parents are going to let me drive the three of us, plus my other half-brother and his fiance, around town to look at the Christmas lights. Yay!

Clarification: InuYasha and Kikyo are newlyweds in this scene.

End A/N.

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><p><em>"What do you mean?" I asked her as we swung our swings in the local park.<em>

_My new wife seemed to become bashful. "I simply never went to the movies before. Don't act so surprised. My stepfather, Sesshomaru, never wanted to drive into the city and deal with the traffic."_

_Grinning, I told her, "Well, I'm glad I was there for your first time." I gave her my best devilish smile as I wiggled my eyebrows at her._

_Kikyo arched an eyebrow at me, something that was hard to see since our swings were completely out of sync and night was falling. "Were you trying to make a nasty remark? Because you did an epic fail."_

_I jumped out of my swing. A moment later, she followed suit, and I grabbed her around the waist. Leaning down to kiss her, I whispered, "Well, here's something I know I never fail at." She stretched on her toes, trying to meet me halfway._(*)_ A second before our lips were going to meet, I heard a vehicle screech to a halt. Curious, I looked over Kikyo's shoulder at the Sports Utility Vehicle, thus completely ruining the moment._

_Now, I wish I hadn't, and truly regret it, because that was the last moment I ever had with her, the last time I ever got to hold Kikyo, my wife, my love, alive and whole._

_I saw the back window on the black SUV roll down. A gun slid out, and I didn't have time to react. If I had been a little faster, not as shocked or startled or-or _scared_, maybe I could have saved her._

_But I wasn't. Which sucked for Kikyo and me. But mostly Kikyo, dammit._

_The machine gun-only a machine gun could have let off that many rounds without reloading-let loose a string of bullets, directed at my wife and me. I felt them hit Kikyo, as they struck her body and sucked out her life, causing her blood to leave through their entrance points. A couple of them hit me too, but not anywhere important. Just in the shoulder. But what would it have mattered if they had shot me a lot more and killed me as well?_

_I let out a cry, finally able to use my voice. I knew only a few seconds had passed, but why wasn't anyone coming over to help Kikyo already? I lowered my wife to the ground as gently as I could, and fought the urge to chase after the vehicle that was speeding away because I felt and knew that Kikyo needed me here with her. I stared, trying to will the SUV into being stuck in place. But all I could do was stare at the retreating black vehicle. I didn't really register the sticker of an animal on the back windshield until later._

_It was a baboon. Strange, right?_

_But I didn't care at the time. I heard Kikyo make a noise, and I quickly looked down at my wife. Just a glance at her could tell anyone what the cold truth was. But I didn't want to believe that she was dying. So I accepted denial with wide open arms and even invited it to sit with me by the proverbial fire._

_I tried to tell Kikyo in a reassuring voice that everything was going to be fine, but I think she knew I was breaking down. "C'mon babe, you know you're fine. Let's go home, 'kay? I got some chili we can-"_

_She put a finger across my lips and said something, but I couldn't hear her. I put my hear above her mouth and, ignoring the blood that flew out as she spoke and hit my ear, listened to what she had to say. "InuYasha, I can feel myself drifting away. I'm only still here to tell you that I love you."_

_Looking up into her brown eyes, I whispered, "Kikyo, I lo-". But it was too late. Before my very eyes, I saw the light fade from her face and eyes. "NO! I didn't get to tell you that I love you! You hear me? I LOVE YOU KIKYO!" I cradled her face in my hands and rested my forehead against hers. "Why did they take you from me?" But I didn't get my answer from her lifeless body._

_And I still don't have an answer. But I'm sure as hell getting closer._

InuYasha quickly sat up in bed, tired of dwelling on Kikyo's last moments. He didn't know what had made him want to relive the whole horrific incident from ten months ago. A glance at the bedside clock told him that it was 4 A.M. _Kinda doubt I'm going to get any sleep. Might as well get up._

Rolling out of bed, InuYasha fell to the ground. He was disgusted when the cockroaches' remains fell with him and onto his face. "Ewww..." He quickly jumped to his feet and brushed himself off.

Letting out a gust of wind from his mouth (but not in a supernatural way), InuYasha strolled into kitchen. Staring at the mound of dishes, he thought to himself, _Okay, that was _way_ smaller last night...at least, I think so_. Shrugging, he told his dead wife, "Yes, I have finally decided to clean up." But eyeing his filthy living room, he amended his statement. "I've decided to clean the kitchen."

* * *

><p><em>Later that morning...<em>

InuYasha sighed again, but this time in satisfaction. "Let's see how much time I've killed by doing this stupid housework," he stated as he cast a glance at the hallway clock. "Crap, it's broken." He walked into his bedrooom and looked at the digital clock. The time he saw caused him to let out a low whistle. "Damn, it's already 8:30."

Walking into the living room, he looked around. He _really_ didn't want to keep cleaning, but he wasn't sure if the archery was open this early. "Screw it, I'm going. No way am I going to keep doing house."

He went into his bedroom, put on clean underwear and, after giving a sniff test to some clothes on the floor, decided to get some clean_er_ clothes out of the closet. "Laundry apparently needs to be added to the list for my future housekeeper." Fully dressed, InuYasha ran around his apartment in search of his phone.

Eventually, he discovered it...glued to the back of the television remote. (**) _Weird... _But before InuYasha could ask Sam's widow or Kikyo about the strange substance, he remembered what he had been doing last night. _Best to forget my actions in moments of need_, he told himself."Well, 'bye Kikyo," InuYasha said to the fairly vacant apartment. "Today's the day. I know you can't respond, but I really do hope you won't hold it against me if I try to move on. It's been almost a year. And I don't really want to be alone for the holidays. Plus, I like her. But I'll always love you. Tell you how it went when I get home tonight. 'Bye babe." He jogged to his car and drove to the archery, Jai's Arrows.

A look at his watch told him that it was a quarter after nine. InuYasha got out of his silver Impala and made his way over to Jai's Arrows' front door. It was locked. He searched for the time sign. When he finally located it, InuYasha saw that the archery didn't open until 9:_30_. "Of _course_ it opens in a quarter of an hour." Sighing, he turned around and began walking back to his car. "Guess I could go get a bagel or something..."

"Talking to yourself, Mr. Taisho?" he heard a nearby voice ask. Spinning around, he saw that it was _her_. Kagome. He couldn't believe the draw he felt to her. It was like how it had been with Kikyo, except-except he felt it even stronger with Kagome. It scared him, that maybe he would end up loving her more than he had ever loved Kikyo. And he didn't know if Kikyo would forgive him for it.

Realizing Kagome was still staring at him, he quickly thought back to what she had said. "Mr. Taisho was my father. Please, call me InuYasha." _Really? 'Mr. Taisho was my father'? Lame, InuYasha._

Smiling at his line, she told him, "Of course, _InuYasha_. May I ask what you are doing here at this time of the day?"

He found that he liked hearing her say his name. Now if only he could hear her screaming it in the throes of ecstatsy...He hoped she didn't notice the sudden blush in his cheeks (she did). "Well, I am trying to become a better archer, and you did say that he were going to help me practice."

Looking embarassed, Kagome said, "Of course. How foolish of me-"

InuYasha cut in. "It's fine."

They stood there for several moments. Suddenly, InuYasha felt something land on his head. Looking up, he noticed that it was actually snowing. (***) Soon, he felt his head become heavy with snow. He looked at Kagome and noticed that she was looking around in wonder.

She turned to him and asked, "Beautiful, isn't it?"

Staring meaningfully at her, he told her, "Yes. It seems I am surrounded by beauty." After a moment, a blush made its way into her cheeks and she looked away from his gaze. He now felt the courage to say what he had truly come for that day. "Uh, Kagome, can I ask you something?" InuYasha nearly wussed out when she turned to stare straight into his eyes, but the expectant and almost pleading look in her eyes helped greatly. Taking a deep breath, he continued. "I was kind of wondering if perhaps you wanted to-to maybe go and get a bagel?" He looked away from her, scared that he would be rejected.

At her prolonged silence, InuYasha cast an anxious glance at her and let out in a rush, "SorryI'msosorryforaskingdidn'tmeantoffendyou." He began inching towards his car and continued in a mutter, "I guess I'm rusty at this stuff. I think I'm just gonna-"

But he was cut off when Kagome suddenly rushed forward and threw her arms around his neck. "InuYasha, I'd love to go out with you." He pulled back from her embrace to give her a questioning look. "I hesistated because I was shocked. I was beginning to doubt that you did like me. I've seen you here at my workplace for the past several weeks. I thought you were never going to ask."

InuYasha felt the need to tell her something. "Before we get involved, I'm just going to put my cards on the table. My wife, Kikyo, was killed by mafia king Naraku several months ago, and I'm hunting him down. He's going to pay for what he did. I just wanted to give you a heads-up so if, you know, we're shot at or someting, it's because of me." InuYasha became worried when he noticed that she seemed almost reluctant now, and thought it best if not to give her time to think over what he had just (foolishly) said.

Burying his face in her hair, he murmured, "But let's just go get some food. Happy Christmas, Kagome."

She whispered in his ear, "I don't celebrate Christmas. I'm Jewish."

* * *

><p>AN: C'mon, let's give it up for cheesy/cliche endings! Woo-hoo! (Not like what the Sims do in _The Sims_. Get your mind outta the gutter.) I'm referring to the part where it started snowing and then he 'finally worked up the courage' and all that.

Ignore if you want. Really stupid note below.

*Just was wondering if anyone had the same thought as me when you read that. I like the Black Eyed Peas' song _Meet Me Halfway_. When I was typing that specific line, the song ran through my head. Felt the need to say that. Not sure why.

**No idea how it got attached to the remote. Any guesses? *suggestive arched eyebrow*

***Does it actually snow in Japan? If it doesn't, sorry it incorrectly did in my story. And if it does snow there, I _so _knew that. Obviously. Hehehe...

If you're curious as to who was narrating the italicized part, it was InuYasha. That's whose commentary was in there.

Please tell me of any probable typos I made in the story.

Yeah, it probably does seem strange that InuYasha is revealing that he's going to avenge Kikyo's death by harming Naraku to someone who's practically a stranger.

If I feel from reviewers that I didn't sufficiently explain some things in the story, I'll put out another chapter to explain. Just let me know if you need me to.

In the ending, I was trying to explain why InuYasha went out the night before.

Hope you like it!

End A/N.


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